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Waterloo Cedar Falls and Northern car 100. This car is featured on Railroad Record Club LP #2. Don’s Rail Photos: “100 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1914. It was built as a second motor to operate behind the 140s as a two car train. The baggage compartment was a kitchen, and the rear end was an open platform observation. The buffet section was replaced with coach seats in 1918. The car was then rebuilt with a control station and baggage compartment in 1928 and the rear platform was enclosed at that time. It was the last interurban left on the WCF&N when it became diesel freight, and it was donated to the Iowa Chapter of the NRHS in 1956. It was moved to Centerville and operated on the Southern Iowa Ry. When the SI cut back its operation and dieselized, the Iowa Chapter transferred the car to the Iowa Terminal RR in 1966. Shortly after it was repainted and put into charter service, it was destroyed in the carbarn fire early November 24, 1967. It had been the only car saved from the WCF&N roundhouse fire on October 31, 1954, when the other two cars of its class burned.”

No one person has been more responsible for preserving the historic artifacts connected with William A. Steventon‘s Railroad Record Club than our good friend Kenneth Gear. A while back, Ken acquired many of the original RRC tape recordings, some of which were never issued.

I have referred before to the RRC output being the “tip of the iceberg,” so to speak, and thanks to Ken, we are beginning to see what the rest of the RRC archive consisted of. While we had already issued some “new” RRC recordings, taken from discs found in the Steventon archive, we have something even more exciting to announce today– newly uncovered audio recordings of the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban, the fabled North Shore Line, unheard for perhaps as much as 60 years.

These recordings have been digitized from original RRC tapes that Ken purchased, and are now available for the first time on compact disc. More details about that will be found at the end of this post.

Because we feel it is important for Ken to get back at least some of the substantial investment he has made, in order to preserve these and other historic materials, we are paying Ken a royalty of $5 for each disc sold. Our humble offerings are already reasonably priced, and we don’t make much money from them. On top of that, the Trolley Dodger has, to date, operated at a loss for every year. Our original losses were in excess of $10k per year. This was reduced to $6k in 2017, and we recently did our taxes and are pleased to report that we cut the loss to just $1400 in 2018.

Our goal with this enterprise is historic preservation and education, to provide an archive where people can get, and exchange information about electric railways. In some ways it is the modern equivalent of what my friend Ray DeGroote calls the “intelligence network” of railfans, which has been around since the 1930s or even earlier, just updated for the Internet age.

It used to be that you had to know somebody to be part of this intelligence network, and information was passed from one person to another. Now, it is accessible to anyone and everyone who wants it, via the world wide web.

With that in mind, our goal has always been to break even, in order to make the Trolley Dodger a self-sustaining enterprise.

But we have to give credit where credit is due. Without Kenneth Gear’s personal sacrifices, it’s possible that these materials would have been lost forever, and would have ended up in a dumpster somewhere. You never would even have known they existed.

That’s why I hope you will help support Ken’s gallant efforts by purchasing a copy of this new CD offering.

Because we are not entirely mercenary, Ken is also sharing dozens of classic railfan photos which he purchased as part of the Railroad Record Club archive. Presumably, all or nearly all of these were taken by the late William A. Steventon (1921-1993) himself, as many reflect the areas he lived, worked, and traveled to in his career.

A few of these we already published, but most of these appear here for the first time.

As always, if you can help provide any additional information about these photos, we would love to hear from you.

This photo was originally misidentified, but actually shows Indianapolis Railways Peter Witt car #132, apparently on a fantrip, probably circa 1950. The streetcar was a Master Unit (that was a Brill trade name), built circa 1932-33, making it one of the last such orders before the PCC era. Master Units were supposed to be a standardized car, but in actuality I believe no two orders were exactly the same.

A Chicago, Aurora & Elgin train street running in Aurora in 1931. The CA&E was relocated off-street here in 1939.

A Capital Transit PCC and bus at Catholic University in the Washington, DC area.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 476, which was featured on Railroad Record Club LP SP-1.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 481.

Des Moines and Central Iowa cars #1701 and 1704 in the scrap line, November 19, 1939.

Des Moines and Central Iowa #1705 in October 1938.

Des Moines and Central Iowa car 1710.

East Broad Top #15 on a rainy day, very likely while Railroad Record Club LP #3 was being recorded.

Evansville and Ohio Valley car #134.

Hagerstown and Frederick #19 in Frederick, MD on May 30, 1939.

The same picture cropped.

A Hagerstown and Frederick work car in Fredercik, MD on May 30, 1939.

Hagerstown and Frederick 164.

Illinois Terminal car 285. Don’s rail Photos: “285 was built by St Louis Car in 1914. It was rebuilt as a parlor car in 1024 and as a coach in December 1928. It was air conditioned in August 1938 and got new seating in December 1952. It was sold for scrap to Hyman Michaels Co. on May 16, 1956.”

An Illinois Terminal local on Caldwell Hill in East Peoria about 1936.

A fuzzy picture of Illinois Power Company loco #1551.

A builder’s photo of Illinois Terminal #207.

Illinois Terminal 1201 at Peoria. Don’s Rail Photos: “1201 was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1910 as an express motor with 20 seats at the rear. In 1919 it was rebuilt with a small baggage section at the front and the trucks were changed from Curtis to Baldwin.”

Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speed car #80 on an Indianapolis local. It was built by Pullman in 1931 and scrapped in 1941.

Indiana Railroad box motor #115.

Indiana Railroad car #375. Don’s Rail Photos: “375 was built by St Louis Car Co in 1926 as Indiana Service Corp 375. It was ass1gned to IRR as 375 in 1932 and rebuilt as a RPO-combine in 1935. It was sold to Chicago South Shore & South Bend in 1941 as 503 and used as a straight baggage car. It was rebuilt in 1952 with windows removed and doors changed.”

Indiana Railroad car #446.

Indiana Railroad car #730.

Indiana Railroad loco #792.

The same picture, restored.

Indiana Railroad Vigo with rails ripped out.

Indiana Service Corp., looking forward from car at speed on Spy Run Avenue showing car on #6 line, May 22, 1939.

Indiana Service Corporation #820 at Wabash station on August 3, 1936.

Indiana Service Corp View across the Broadway bridge, showing double truck car in distance, August 18, 1940. (But what city is this?) Mike Peters writes: “he ISC city car is in Fort Wayne, a block away from the south end of the Broadway line. The bridge carries Bluffton Road and the ISC interurban to Bluffton over the Saint Marys River. A good map of the Ft. Wayne system can be found in “Fort Wayne’s Trolleys” (George Bradley). ISC did provide service in several smaller cities, but these lines did not survive the 1930’s.”

Interstate car #711, ex-Indiana Public Service Corporation 427, on September 3, 1939.

Interstate car 711 on shop siding west of Greencastle on June 3 1939.

Indiana Railroad lightweight car #94. Don’s Rail Photos: “90 thru 99 were built by Cummings in 1930 as Northern Indiana Ry 350 thru 359. In 1935, they were returned to Cummings, who rebuilt them and sold them to the IRR. They were retired in 1940.”

Indiana Railroad line car 763 at the Muncie station on May 19, 1940.

Indiana Railroad lightweight car 96.

Indiana Railroad lightweight car #90 at New Castle, IN on July 4, 1936. Note the Woolworth’s at right.

Indiana Railroad lightweight car #95 at the Indianapolis terminal.

Indiana Railroad lightweight car #99.

Indiana Railroad #787.

Lake Erie and Northern car #795.

Lake Erie and Northern car #797.

Lake Erie and Northern car #939.

A Lehigh Valley Transit Allentown Limited on the Liberty Bell Route, descending the ramp at Norristown (where LVT shared tracks with the Philadelphia & Western for access to Philadelphia, at least until 1949).

A nice right-of-way photo with no information, other than the date– March 31, 1936.

Jeff Wien: “TMER&T, route 13: Clybourn Downtown Milwaukee.”
.

No information.

This is a three-car train of Indiana Railroad lightweight high-speeds in multiple-unit service on a fantrip, circa 1938-40.

No information (photo restored).

No information (unrestored photo).

Does ST F Co RR stand for Santa Fe? At any rate, this is car #54 at Farmington, MO.

Salt Lake and Utah loco #101.

Sand Springs Railway (Oklahoma) loco #1001.

Unidentified car and person. Mike Peters: “The photo of 817 and employee would also be Fort Wayne. After passenger operations ceased, this motor was retained for switching the Spy Run power plant and several nearby industries. The roster in “Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Trolleys” (CERA #122) shows the 817 as being retired in 1952.”

Unidentified steeple cab locomotive.

Unidentified steeple cab locomotive.

Union Electric Railway loco #80.

Utah Idaho Central #905 in June 1945.

Utah Idaho Central #905 in June 1945.

Washington and Old Dominion car #44 and a Railway Express Agency truck in Rosslyn VA.

A Washington and Old Dominion locomotive.

A Washington and Old Dominion RPO (Railway Post Office) on a mail run outside Rosslyn VA.

The Washington and Old Dominion shops.

Recent Finds

The CTA DesPlaines Avenue terminal in Forest Park in July 1955. This is an unusal view, looking west from Desplaines Avenue. At left, you can just barely see some streetcar tracks, which were used by West Towns Railways trolleys no later than 1948. That could be a CTA Route 17 bus, and you can also see some Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban cars in the station. The CA&E cut back service to here in 1953.

CTA 1775 at Cermak and Kostner on March 21, 1954, about two months before streetcar service ended on Route 21.

CTA 7213 on Route 49 – Western on August 2, 1949. This car would later become the last Chicago streetcar to operate.

North Shore Line 254 “at freight station on “L”structure near Loop – January 27, 1962.”

CTA 6180, a one-man car, picks up passengers at an “L” station in the early 1950s.

CTA 7216, a St. Louis Car Company PCC, is northbound on Route 36 – Broadway in the 1950s. Jeff Wien: “Cars laying over on 119th at Morgan.”

CTA 4362, a Pullman PCC, on Route 8 – Halsted, most likely in the late 1940s. Jeff Wien adds, “Rt. 8 car has just pulled off of Broadway onto Waveland to head south on Halsted to 79th Street loop. Photo ca 1951 when Halsted was operated with PCCs, most Pullmans.”

Newly rediscovered and digitized after 60 years, most of these audio recordings of Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban trains are previously unheard, and include on-train recordings, run-bys, and switching. Includes both Electroliners, standard cars, and locomotives. Recorded between 1955 and 1963 on the Skokie Valley Route and Mundelein branch. We are donating $5 from the sale of each disc to Kenneth Gear, who saved these and many other original Railroad Record Club master tapes from oblivion.

Total time – 73:14

The Trolley Dodger On the Air

We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.

Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)

To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Chapter Titles:01. The River Tunnels02. The Freight Tunnels03. Make No Little Plans04. The State Street Subway05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway06. Displaced07. Death of an Interurban08. The Last Street Railway09. Subways and Superhighways10. Subways Since 1960

Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

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Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 229th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 507,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

CSL prewar PCC 4022 heads west on Madison Street in the late 1940s. It is signed for the Madison-Fifth branch line. Fifth Avenue is an angle street that heads southwest. Service on the branch line terminated at the Garfield Park “L” station at Pulaski Road. Several parts of Fifth Avenue have been truncated since streetcars stopped running there in early 1954. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)

It has been nearly two months since our last post, but we are back with a bevy of classic traction photos for your consideration.

Things have been quite busy of late, as we worked as an election judge for two recent elections (three in the last six months). Although you have not seen a new post for a while, work behind the scenes continued. We scanned hundreds of images, and many needed extra help in Photoshop.

When you see as post such as this, it is like the tip of an iceberg. For every image we share, there are others that, for whatever reason, do not make the grade, as well as others that are being stored up in an inventory of images, waiting for their moment in the sun.

Leopards, they say, never change their spots… but I assume you can identify certain breeds of dogs, such as Dalmatians, by the location of their spots. Spots factor into our images in any number of ways. Our readers often help us determine just which spot a picture was taken at. And we often have to do spot removal, a tedious practice, on old images.

Brian Wilson has his Pet Sounds, and we have our own pet images. Today’s batch are particular favorites, but each one is a different animal– a horse of a different color, you could say. You should have seen some of these pictures before we got hold of them and gave them triage. On second thought, just stick to the finished product you see here.

There are many, many hours of work that go into each post, and money too. When you see an image here, figure that it cost at least $10 on average to obtain it. We are fortunate that some of our readers have shared images from their extensive collections with us.

In particular, today’s post benefited tremendously from the generosity of both William Shapotkin and Jeffrey L. Wien, both of whom recently celebrated birthdays.

So, we are calling this post 101 Dalmatians, as we have at least that many new pictures here, and after working on them for so long, we are starting to see spots everywhere we look. We hope you will appreciate our modest efforts, and we will be back soon with more posts.

-David Sadowski

Our best wishes also go out to Ray DeGroote, the dean of Chicago railfans at age 88, who was recently injured in a fall. We wish him a speedy recovery. If anyone can do it at that age, Ray can.

Recent Finds

A bird’s-eye view of the Wells Street Terminal used by the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin interurban on September 19, 1953. The following day, CA&E stopped running trains downtown, and their track connection with the CTA was severed forever in suburban Forest Park. There is a similar image, taken in 1960, showing the same terminal, or what was left after the CTA built a new track connection to the Loop elevated through it in 1955. You can find that in my book Building Chicago’s Subways.

On July 27, 1962, a CTA Douglas Park “B” train pulls away from us at the Racine stop on the Congress rapid transit line., then only four years old. The train will go downtown through the Dearborn Subway, and then out to Logan Square via the Milwaukee Avenue tube.

On May 28, 1978, photographer William D. Lloyd caught this picture of CTA Historic cars 4271-4272 on the north side “L”. Now nearing the century mark, they are still on the property today. Here, they were only about five years out of regular service.

On January 26, 1964, approximately one year after the North Shore Line quit, the two Electroliners were rechristened as Liberty Liners on the Red Arrow’s 13-mile line between Philadelphia and Norristown. In the distance, we see a pair of early 1930s Bullet cars, which had a storied history of their own.

In the last couple years of red car service in Chicago, which ended in 1954, the CTA painted a few of the older streetcars green. It was not an attractive color for them. Here, we see inbound car 6172 jogging from one side of Lake Street to another via Pine Avenue. To this day, tracks are still visible under the viaduct. At this point, streetcars crossed the Lake Street “L”, which ran on the ground here until 1962.

CSL 1466 was used as a training car for the three river tunnels. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)

CSL 173X (full number not visible) is heading west on Madison Street in the 1930s. The Civic Opera House, built by Samuel Insull in 1929, is visible at rear. (Edward Frank, Jr. Photo)

A maintenance of way car along the overhead section of the North Side “L”, exact date and location unknown. Jeff Wien adds that this is: “Wilson Avenue, freight connection to Buena Yards, probably in the early 50s.”

Laurel Line car 31 is at the Plains substation on August 3, 1952. Edward Skuchas writes: “I believe the locations of the two Laurel Line photos are incorrect. The top photo is Pittston. The lower photo may be the Plains sub-station. West Pittston is on the other side of the Susquehanna River, and the Laurel Line did not go there.”

Laurel Line car 39 is at the Plains sub-station on December 28, 1952, shortly before abandonment.

The interior of Lehigh Valley Transit car 1007, showing its leather bucket seats, which were popular when this car was built for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie in the early 1930s.

Conductors on a Humboldt Park “L” train, circa 1907-15.

A Loop-bound Metropolitan “L” train, circa 1907-15.

The Chicago Surface Lines used trailers during the 1920s, as a way of dealing with increasing crowds of riders. But with the advent of the Great Depression, ridership fell sharply, and the trailers were no longer needed. Some thought was given to reviving them during World War II, but this did not happen. Here, 1756 pulls 8049. Don’s Rail Photos notes, “8056 was built by Brill in 1921, #21272. It became a shed at 77th and scrapped on July 17, 1957.” 1756 was a “169” or Broadway-State car. Again, Don Ross: “1756 was built by CSL in 1923. It was rebuilt as one-man in 1949.”

CTA prewar PCC 7028 on private right-of-way at the south end of Route 4 – Cottage Grove, in June 1953.

CTA Sedan (aka Peter Witt) 3848 on priate right-of-way at the south end of Route 4 – Cottage Grove in June 1952. Here, the line ran parallel to the Illinois Central Electric suburban service, now the Metra Electric.

After the Chicago Transit Authority retired the last of the wooden “L” cars in 1957, some were used for a few more years in work service. Here, a Met car has been renumbered as S-308 at Skokie Shops.

CTA single cat unit 23 is outbound on the Skokie Swift at Niles Center Road on August 20, 1970.

CTA single car unit 26 on the open-cut section of the Skokie Swift in August 1978.

CTA postwar PCC 4337, built by Pullman, heads south on State Street in the early 1950s.

An outbound CTA Douglas Park train ascends the ramp that will take from the Congress (now Eisenhower) Expressway to the old “L” structure in the mid-1960s. This ramp is not used much now, as Douglas trains, now renamed the Pink Line, have been rerouted to the Lake Street “L” via the Paulina Connector. (Mark D. Meyer Photo)

I ought this Red Border Kodachrome slide, which dates to the early 1950s, thinking perhaps it might e the old Park Theater on Chicago’s west side (on Lake near Austin). But after studying the image for a while, I am inclined to think it’s somewhere else. While the facade looks similar to the actual Park Theater, it is not identical. There should be streetcar tracks visible– the movie theater closed in 1952, about two years before the streetcar quit. And the theater on Lake Street at Austin Boulevard did not have a streetlight such as the one seen at right. There was a light attached to a line pole that held the trolley wire– a line pole not visible in this picture. That, plus the rounded nature of the signage, which I have never seen in any other pictures of the Park, tell me that this is not it. But we have in the past posted several pictures of streetcars near the actual theater. If you type “park theater” or “lake austin” in the search window on our page, these various pictures will come up.

CSL 1039 at Wabash and Lake in June 1947. Signed for the Indiana-Lincoln through route #3, it is southbound, and headed to Indiana and 51st.

CSL 6284 on Wabash at Roosevelt Road on June 13, 1947. Although the car is full of people, for some reason the side sign says Not In Service.

A two-car CTA train of 4000s at right, in Evanston shuttle service, heads southbound approaching Howard in the 1950s.

The CTA has a yard for the Green Line (formerly the Lake Street “L”) just west of the Harlem Avenue terminal in suburban Forest Park. Here, various cars in the 2000-series are seen, along with a Metra commuter train on the adjacent Union Pacific West Line. This picture was most likely taken during the 1990s. (Bruce C. Nelson Photo)

CTA gate car 2318 is parked along the outer portion of the Douglas Park line in February 1950.

Chicago Rapid Transit Company gate car 305 is seen on the Loop “L” in the 1940s, signed as a Wilson Avenue Local.

The presence of double track would seem to indicate that this picture of a South Shore Line train was taken in East Chicago, Indiana in the 1950s. The street running through the middle of town was replaced by a new section running parallel to the Indiana Toll Road in 1956.

CTA Holiday Trains have become an annual tradition. Photographer Bruce C. Nelson captured this one on December 2, 2017.

Chicago Surface Lines red Pullman 426 is most likely running on Route 65 – Grand, as it is signed to go to Grand and Armitage. Chances are, this photo was taken circa 1939-40, and shows temporary trackage for construction of Chicago’s first subways.

October 27, 1962 was the last day of ground-level operation on the CTA Lake Street “L”. The following day, service was relocated to the adjacent Chicago & North Western embankment. Here, we see a pair of 4000s heading west on South Boulevard at Kenilworth.

After serving Chicago for many years, some of the original CTA “flat door” 6000s had a second life on Philadelphia’s Norristown High-Speed Line. 6089-6090 are approaching Radnor on April 10, 1987.

Here is a view of the old Tower 18 on Chicago’s Loop “L”, when this was the world’s busiest railroad crossing. The old Loop ran both tracks in only one direction, but this changed in 1969, when the CTA wanted to connect the Lake Street “L” with the new Dan Ryan line. Therefore, the old tower had to go, as it was situated right where the new tracks had to go.

Both CTA and CA&E trains are visible in this July 8, 1953 photo taken at Laramie on the Garfield Park “L”. Just a little over two months later, the CA&E interurban cut back service to Forest Park, a few miles west of here (and behind the photographer).

The Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Company’s car 60, seen here in 1950, was a Cincinnati curved-side car. The ill-fated attempt to keep electric transit service going in Milwaukee was doomed to failure, once a horrific head-on collision took the lives of several people.

CA&E 425 is passing over Union Station in this undated photo. Trains going more or less straight would end up at the Wells Street Terminal, while the tracks in the background leading off to the right connected to the Loop “L” Van Buren. When Lower Wacker Drive was being built, this necessitated tearing down this second connection to thee Loop, and building a new one through the second floor of Wells Terminal. The switchover between the two took place in 1955.

Riders at the old Laramie stop on the CTA’s Garfield Park “L” in 1947. Met cars are seen in storage in the background. (John Gibb Smith, Jr. Photo)

A CRT gate car, running in service on the old Garfield Park “L” in 1947. This is the Laramie stop. (Charles R. Griffin Photo)

This CTA brochure, dated July 1949, explains the changes that were coming from the CTA’s plan to revise north-south “L” and subway service. This included A/B “skip stop” service and making the Evanston branch a shuttle.

From the Wien-Criss Archive:

One of the two North Shore Line Electroliners on Chicago’s South Side “L” on February 17, 1962. (Wien-Criss Archive)

A North Shore Line Electroliner barrels through, having just crossed under the EJ&E, on January 12, 1963, a little over a week before the end of service. (Wien-Criss Archive)

A North Shore Line Electroliner on June 1, 1962. (Wien-Criss Archive)

A North Shore Line Electroliner at Edison Court on February 17, 1962. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Chicago Surface Lines experimental pre-PCC car 7001 at 77th and Vincennes in October 1956. It is a shame that this historic car, which ran in Chicago from 1934 to 1944, was not saved. (Wien-Criss Archive)

A Milwaukee streetcar, presumably on Route 10, in the 1950s. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Interior shots were not easy for photographers on September 4, 1962, when Robert F. Collins took this picture of the North Shore Line’s Milwaukee terminal. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Don’s Rail Photos: “E223, sweeper, was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1908 as CCRys E23. It was renumbered E223 in 1913 and became CSL E223 in 1914. It was sold to Illinois Railway Museum on August 29, 1958.” (Wien-Criss Archive)

On March 17, 1957 the late James J. Buckley caught this terrific 3/4 view of a Chicago, Aurora & Elgin freight train at Lakewood. (Wien-Criss Archive)

It’s June 1963, several months after the CTA elevated the Lake Street “L” onto the Chicago & North Western embankment. A four-car train made up of “circus wagons,” the fan’s name for experimental high-speed cars, is making a rare appearance at Harlem Avenue, the end of the line. This view looks east. (Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA postwar PCC 7237 is running southbound on Clark Street in the late 1950s. (Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA postwar PCC 7196 is at 81st and Halsted, the southern end of Route 22 – Clark-Wentworth. (Wien-Criss Archive)

CTA steeple cab S-343, a “yard shifter,” serving the rapid transit system, is at 64th and Prairie. Don’s Rail Photos notes, “S-343 was built by Chicago City Ry in 1909 as Chicago City Ry C50. It was renumbered L202 in 1913 and became CSL L202 in 1914. It was rebuilt as S-343 in 1959 and acquired by Railway Equipment Leasing & Investment Co in 1979. It was acquired by Fox River Trolley Museum in 1983 and restored as L202.” (Wien-Criss Archive)

Chicago Surface Lines crane car X-4 at the Illinois Railway Museum. Don’s Rail Photos says,”X4, derrick, was built by McGuire-Cummings in 1910 as CRys 2. It was renumbered N2 in 1913 and became CSL N2 in 1914. It was rebuilt as X4 in 1947 and rebuilt as S344 in 1958. It was sold to Electric Railway Historical Society in 1963 and donated to Illinois Railway Museum in 1973.” (Wien-Criss Archive)

CSL 5301 is at Lake and Ashland, running on Route 9, in April 1937. Streetcars were not permitted on boulevards, and the section of Ashland between Lake and Roosevelt was just such a boulevard. Therefore, in that stretch, Ashland streetcars jogged over the nearby Paulina. (William Shapotkin Collection)

This picture was taken on a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip on the Illinois Central Electric on April 24, 1966. (William Shapotkin Collection)

The slide mount for this had the word “junk” written on it, but I don’t agree. This is also from that same April 24, 1966 fantrip. (William Shapotkin Collection)

A photo stop at Washington Park race track on the April 24, 1966 CERA fantrip on the IC. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Illinois Central Electric 1427 and 1186 on the Washington Park Branch on the April 24, 1966 CERA fantrip. Note that the motor unit in this pair faces north. (William Shapotkin Collection)

The Illinois Central Electric at Blue Island in June 1978. (William Shapotkin Collection)

This slide mount has George Strombeck written on it, but I am not sure whether that is the name of the photographer, or the man in the picture. Either way, this shows a Milwaukee Road commuter train in Downtown Chicago on April 21, 1973. (William Shapotkin Collection)

The GM&O “Abe Lincoln” at 18th Street in Chicago on April 22, 1966. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Ryan Tower

Photos of Ryan Tower, where the North Shore Line crossed the Chicago & North Western, are scarce, as this was a somewhat remote location for fans. But thanks to the good offices of Bill Shapotkin, here are several such views, along with his usual contemporary photos showing what the area looks like today.

Milwaukee County, WI – A pair of CNS&M cars (the “Silverliner” at left is on a fantrip) pass one another at Ryan Tower – crossing with the C&NW “New Line.” Note that the once-double-tracked C&NW is now ut a single-track line through here (the one-time westbound main has been removed). The view looks north. (William Shapotkin Collection)

Near the Milwaukee County line, a North Shore car crosses the C&NW freight line at an acute angle. (A. C. Kalmbach Photo, William Shapotkin Collection)

Milwaukee County, WI – Looking N/NW (timetable NB) on long-abandoned right-of-way of CNS&M from “Old Ryan Road,” (formerly Ryan Road). The CNS&M once crossed the C&NW (now UP) “New Line” – visible at right at “Ryan Tower,” located behind the photographer on the south side of the road. Photo by William Shapotkin on September 20, 2003.

(William Shapotkin Photo)

Milwaukee, WI – Looking SB on UP (ex-C&NW) “New Line” from “Old Ryan Road” (new Ryan Road is visible overhead in the distance). This once double-tracked line once crossed the long-abandoned CNS&M at “Ryan Tower,” located south of the Roadway. Photo by William Shapotkin on September 6, 2003.

C&WT 104 at the end of the line in LaGrange. (William Shapotkin Collection)

C&WT 164 on Lake Street. (William Shapotkin Collection)

C&WT 145 is westbound on Lake Street at Harlem Avenue. To the left is the Marshall Field & Company store, a local landmark. (William Shapotkin Collection)

This picture is not very sharp, but it does show a C&WT streetcar stopped at the south parking lot of Brookfield Zoo, sometime in the 1940s. (William Shapotkin Collection)

C&WT 133 has changed ends at Madison and Austin, and is ready to head west. Across the street from Oak Park into Chicago, riders could change to a Chicago Surface Lines PCC for a fast ride into the city. (William Shapotkin Collection)

This shows westbound C&WT car 108, signed Berwyn-Lyons, on Stanley having just passed Oak Park Avenue circa 1941. At right is the Berwyn stop on the Chicago Burlington & Quincy. Today, Pace bus route 302 runs here, and commuter train service is under the auspices of Metra. (William Shapotkin Collection)

I am not sure of where this C&WT photo was taken. (William Shapotkin Collection) Patrick Cunningham: “The unidentified C&WT photo looks like it was taken just east of the Stone Ave. station on the CB&Q in LaGrange. The view is east. If you look at the prior photo of the end of the C&WT in LaGrange (which was at Brainard Ave.), you’ll note that the line was single track. This appears to be a passing siding or layover point.” On the other hand. Michael Murray writes, “I believe the 7th C&WT picture is looking east at Harlem and Stanley Aves. Page 128 of the Buckley book shows the signal on the pole, the track alignment, the CBQ shelter, and the CBQ signal in a photo near where yours was taken. I originally thought the same about the C&WT picture, but it’s Berwyn, not La Grange. The Buckley book confirms the location. ” Charles R. Vlk: “The “I am not sure of where this C&WT photo was taken. (William Shapotkin Collection)” photo is looking East on Stanley Avenue where the single track line crossing the Burlington at Harlem Avenue goes to double track. Harlem Avenue is behind the camera to the West.”

C&WT 112 is eastbound at Stanley and Oak Park Avenue. The CB&Q Berwyn stop is at left. (William Shapotkin Collection)

We have seen this picture of C&WT 141 before (it is also in my book Chicago Trolleys), but why pass up another chance to see it again? This is the bridge where the LaGrange line crossed the DesPlaines River, and I believe we are looking the the southeast. (William Shapotkin Collection)

I assume these are the C&WT tracks in LaGrange. (William Shapotkin Collection) Michael Murray: “I’m skeptical that photo 10 is on the La Grange line. There wasn’t any single track on the line similar to the one in the photo. My guess is perhaps the Berwyn-Lyons line? Ogden Ave. on the right, and this is the easternmost passing track, which, according to the Buckley book, was west of Harlem. Note that the line poles are only briefly wide of the main “march” of poles into the distance.”

A C&WT streetcar in LaGrange. (William Shapotkin Collection) Michael Murray: “Photo 11, which you have captioned as “A C&WT streetcar in LaGrange” is found on page 129 of the Buckley book, and is captioned: “Between Harlem Ave and the Des Plaines River, the Berwyn-Lyons streetcar line was built on private right-of-way on the south side of Ogden Ave. It was abandoned October 26, 1933 because the land was wanted to widen Ogden Ave. The railway here was single track with two passing sidings. Car 133 was photographed on the passing siding near the Des Plaines River in October 1933, a few days before abandonment.”

From a high vantage point, here we see C&WT 112 has just turned from Ridgeland onto Stanley in suburban Berwyn, and is heading west, just north of the CB&Q, which it will cross at Harlem Avenue one mile west of here. (William Shapotkin Collection)

C&WT 132 on Cermak Road in the late 1930s. (William Shapotkin Collection)

C&WT 105 at the Harlem and Cermak car barn. (William Shapotkin Photo)

C&WT 111 on Cermak Road. (William Shapotkin Photo)

The Trolley Dodger On the Air

We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.

Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)

To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Chapter Titles:01. The River Tunnels02. The Freight Tunnels03. Make No Little Plans04. The State Street Subway05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway06. Displaced07. Death of an Interurban08. The Last Street Railway09. Subways and Superhighways10. Subways Since 1960

Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

For Shipping to Canada:

For Shipping Elsewhere:

Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 228th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 504,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

I believe this photo postcard of Chicago Surface Lines 5812 was taken at the 72nd and Cottage Grove loop. Don’s Rail Photos says, “5712 was built by Brill Car Co in 1912, #18322. It was rebuilt as one man/two man service in 1933 and retired on August 25, 1947.” This picture appears to date between 1914 and 1933.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and here we have some tasty traction Valentines for your consideration. First, we have some recent finds of our own, followed by many generously shared from the collections of William Shapotkin. We finish this post with an important find from J. J. Sedelmaier.

-David Sadowski

Recent Finds

LVT 812 in front of the Easton car barn on a June 30, 1947 fantrip. (James Maloney, Jr. Photo)

An artist’s rendering of the high-level us subway the CTA envisioned for Washington Street between Canal and Michigan, 1961.

Indiana Railroad #1150 is southbound at Springport station on the New Castle line on January 1, 1941 in the waning days of that storied Hoosier interurban. (Eugene Van Dusen Photo)

SF Muni cable car 524 is at Powell and Market at 1 am on September 2, 1956.

SF Muni cable car 503 at Washington and Octavia on September 1, 1956.

Cable car track work at Powell and California on October 31, 1957.

Red Arrow Lines Brilliner #7 is running on the street, presumably on the Sharon Hill branch, on November 27, 1960.

On June 3, 1962 Red Arrow car 20 is turning onto a cobblestone street on the Sharon Hill line.

At first, you might think this lineup of NSL cars in dead storage at Highwood (headed up by 158) is post-abandonment, but apparently not. The slide not only has a 1/20/63 date stamped on it (last full day of operations), the slide was processed by Kodak in January 1963.

In this April 11, 1964 view, one of the former North Shore Line Electroliners has been rechristened as a Red Arrow Liberty Liner on the Norristown High Speed Line in Philadelphia’s suburbs. I would expect that the abandoned right-of-way at left is where the Strafford branch once was.

North Shore Line electric loco 456 heads up a short freight train on January 20, 1963– the last full day of operations prior to abandonment.

CTA 7108, already signed for its northbound trip on Route 36, is near 120th and Halsted in the 1950s.

CTA 4095 is eastbound at Lake and Ashland on June 24, 1961. In the ackground, you can see the old Lake Transfer station, where riders could change (up until February 1951) for Logan Square and Humboldt Park trains.

A CTA two-car Lake Street “L” train heads east in this 1960 photo by Al Holtz.

April 1963.

From the Collections of William Shapotkin

CTA trolley us 9377 is at Irving Park and Neenah. This bus turnaround is no longer in use by CTA, and has now become part of a driveway for a development.

At right, 2411-2412 are on the same fantrip mentioned in the revious photo. At left, a southbound Howard-Dan Ryan train passes the Diversey station on the Ravenswood “L”. William Shapotkin took this picture on December 13, 1998.

At right, CTA cars 2411-2412 are on an NRHS (National Railway Historical Society) fantrip. At left, a southbound Howard-Dan Ryan train blasts by the Armitage station on the Ravenswood “L”. William Shapotkin took this photo on December 13, 1998.

CTA 2177 heads up an Evanston Express train at Armitage on July 10, 1989.

CTA bus 8413 is southbound on Broadway at Lawrence in October 1973, running on Route 36. (Ronald J. Sullivan Photo)

CTA trolley bus 9453, working a westbound trip on Route 12 – Roosevelt Road, has just crossed Wabash Avenue. (The building on the northeast corner is the one-time Union Bus Depot.) The view looks northeast on May 27, 1967, taken from the CTA Roosevelt Road station.) Jeffrey L. Wien Photo, Wien-Criss Archive)

A northbound Lake-Englewood “A” train of 2000-series cars approaches the “L” station at 40th and Indiana in September 1993. (Myron Lane Photo)

A northbound CTA train approaches the Indiana “L” station on the south side of Chicago on June 28, 1992. The occasion was a Central Electric Railfans’ Association fantrip, celebrating a century of rapid transit. (Jim Arvites Photo)

CTA 2821, a wooden Met car running northbound on the Kenwood shuttle circa 1956-57. These were the last type of cars used for that service, which ended in 1957.

We are looking east off the CTA’s Indiana Avenue “L” station in the early 1950s. At left, a Kenwood train has just departed en route to 42nd Place. At right, two 200-series cars (used as equipment on the Kenwood line) are in storage on what once had been the northbound local track of the South Side “L”.

CTA gate car 268 at the Indiana Avenue station “pocket.”

CTA 268 is a Kenwood local, at the Indiana Avenue station.

A two-car train, including #227, is being stored for Kenwood service, on what had once been the northbound local track on the South Side “L”, in the early 1950s.

CTA 385 is at the Indiana Avenue station in July 1948, signed as a Wilson Avenue local via the elevated (instead of the State Street subway, which opened in 1943). The following year, the CTA introduced A/B “skip stop” service to North-South and the Kenwood and Stockyards ranches became shuttles.

CTA car #273, working the Kenwood “L” shuttle, is seen at the 40th and Indiana Avenue station. The view looks northeast.

Once the Kenwood and Stockyards ranch lines became full-time shuttle operations, the CTA station at 40th and Indiana Avenue was reconfigured. Here is a Kenwood car in the “pocket.”

Looking west from the west end of the Indiana Avenue “L” station, 4000-series “L” cars are laying over on the Stockyards “L”. 4000s were used on this branch during the 1952 and 1956 political conventions held at the International Amphitheater. (Joseph N. Canfield Photo)

The Indiana Avenue station on the South Side “L” circa 1956. A northbound Englewood-Howard train departs the station, while a Stockyards shuttle train awaits departure time. The view looks east. (Joseph N. Canfield Photo)

Looking east (timetable south) into 63rd and Cottage Grove station on the Jackson Park “L” on May 12, 1996. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A Lake-Jackson Park train approaching 63rd and Cottage Grove on May 12, 1996. The train has crossed over to the northbound track and is arriving at the station. (William Shapotkin Photo)

A southbound Jackson Park train approaches 63rd and Cottage Grove on May 12, 1996. The train is about to cross over and arrive at the station. The view looks west (timetable north) from the north platform. (William Shapotkin Photo)

Chicago, IL. Looking westbound on O’Neil Street (now 23rd Place) from Halsted Street. Well into the 1900s, this was an important terminal/transfer point. Note cable slots– the West Chicago Street Railroad Company’s Halsted-Van Buren cable line terminated in the carbarn at left. This was also the south terminal of Chicago Union Traction’s Halsted line. CUT car #4171 (Pullman 1898) prepares for its northward journey. (Fred J. Borchert Photo)

Chicago, IL. Looking westbound on 23rd (O’Neil) Street from Halsted Street, once a busy street– once a busy streetcar/cable car terminal (with a carbarn). The rails (along with a crossover) are still intact and visible in this July 30, 2004 photo by William Shapotkin.

Chicago, IL. Looking eastbound on 3rd (O’Neil) Street towards Halsted Street, once a busy streetcar/cable car terminal. Both sets of rails (which head onto northbound Halsted) are still visible (as of July 30, 2004) lo these many years since the discontinuance of streetcar service. (William Shapotkin Photo)

Indiana Avenue station on the South Side “L”. Left– a northbound Kenwood train arrives, while at right, a westbound Howard train also arrives. The view looks east off the overhead transfer ridge in 1950. (Joseph N. Canfield Photo)

Looking north on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue at Ohio Street circa mid-late 1920s. BTW – the billboard on the right was originally produced in 1925 as a South Shore Line one-sheet poster. (J. J. Sedelmaier Collection)

The Trolley Dodger On the Air

We appeared on WGN radio in Chicago last November, discussing our book Building Chicago’s Subways on the Dave Plier Show. You can hear our 19-minute conversation here.

Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There were three subway anniversaries in 2018 in Chicago:60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)

To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Chapter Titles:01. The River Tunnels02. The Freight Tunnels03. Make No Little Plans04. The State Street Subway05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway06. Displaced07. Death of an Interurban08. The Last Street Railway09. Subways and Superhighways10. Subways Since 1960

Building Chicago’s Subways is in stock and now available for immediate shipment. Order your copy today! All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

For Shipping to Canada:

For Shipping Elsewhere:

Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 227th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 488,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

Some of you have a device called a Magic Jack to make telephone calls using your home computer. But as many of our readers know, this blog also has a “Magic Jack” all of its own.

Today’s post features the work of Jack Bejna, whose pictures have been featured here many times previously. He loves finding old photographs and works his own brand of magic on them, making them look better using Photoshop.

We thank him for sharing these great images with our readers. The comments that follow, in this section, are Jack’s. Just to keep a hand in, we also have a few additional photos of our own that follow.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

Chicago Aurora & Elgin at Laramie Avenue

Here are a few shots of the yard at Laramie Avenue. The first shows the yard looking east with the freight shed at the right, and at the left a CTA train heads west. The second shot features a CA&E train heading west (not sure but looks like a motorman in the front window). The third shot is at the freight house looking west. The tracks in the foreground were used to store CA&E trains when not needed, and many photographs of CA&E cars were taken at this location through the years. The fourth shot shows a CA&E freight at Flournoy Street heading west. In the background can be seen the mid-day storage tracks for CA&E cars.

CA&E Lockwood Yard at Laramie.

CA&E Laramie Yard overview.

CA&E Laramie Ave freight house.

CA&E 7 at Flournoy Street, Laramie Yard.

Chicago Aurora & Elgin Wheaton Yards

CA&E car 18 (Niles 1902), plus cars 44 and 423.

CA&E car 24 (Niles 1902).

CA&E car 26 (Niles 1902).

CA&E car 28 (Niles 1902).

CA&E Car 34 end view (Stephenson, 1902).

CA&E Car 34 (Stephenson, 1902).

CA&E Car 36 (Stephenson, 1902).

CA&E Car 48 (Stephenson, 1902).

CA&E Car 52 (Stephenson, 1902).

Detroit Jackson & Chicago

I believe that all of these pictures were taken in or near Jackson, Michigan. The Jackson depot is lettered Michigan United Railways in one picture, Michigan United Traction Comapny in another, and the cars are lettered Michigan Railway Lines, all as a result of several changes of ownership of the Detroit Jackson and Chicago lines. Also included is a map of downtown Jackson.

Jackson Interurban Station postcard.

Jackson Interurban Station.

Jackson, Michigan Traction Map.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 1.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 2.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 3.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 16.

Michigan Railway Lines – Cars 27 and 64.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 65.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 85.

Michigan Railway Lines – Car 647.

Detroit United Railway

Some years ago a friend of mine told me that her uncle had died and left a lot of railroadiana behind, and I could have a look and take anything I wanted. Most of the stuff was not worth anything but I did come across two small (4”x 6”) two ring binders that were full of Detroit United Railways and Michigan Interurban equipment photos. The DUR photos had in-depth tech specs on the photo back for the particular car pictured. The pre-printed tech spec info form was dated: Rep cost 10-1-1921. I believe these photos were part of an audit for an upcoming fare increase request. I therefore believe that the photos were taken circa 1921.

I kept the binders and several years ago I started scanning them and Photoshopping them when I had time to spare. The quality of the pictures (i.e., exposure, lighting, etc.) varies but there are a number that are fine following a lot of Photoshop work.

Most of the photos don’t include the location where the photo were taken, and, since I’m not familiar with Michigan towns and cities, I don’t have any idea where the pictures were taken, with some exceptions.

I hope that readers of your fine blog may help to identify locations of some of the photographs.

DUR Car 1026

DUR Car 1857

DUR Car 1939

DUR Car 2004

DUR Car 2046

DUR Car 2105

DUR Car 5200

DUR Car 5623

DUR Car 7001

DUR Car 7051

DUR Car 13

DUR Car 1861

DUR Car 7053.

DUR Car 7067.

DUR Car 7081.

DUR Car 7103.

DUR Car 7105.

DUR Car 7256.

DUR Car 7263.

DUR Car 7272.

DUR Car 7288.

DUR Car 7292.

DUR Car 7312.

Recent Finds

CTA wooden “L” car 1024 at the Illinois Electric Railway Museum in North Chicago, February 1960. The original museum location was at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company, adjacent to the North Shore Line tracks. Some of the wooden “L” cars were operated under their own power to North Chicago. This car, originally built by Pullman in 1898 as Northwestern Elevated Railroad 24, has since been restored to its original condition at IRM in Union.

Illinois Terminal Railroad line car 1702, built by that operator in 1922, at North Chicago in February 1960.

Illinois Terminal car 101 at IERM in North Chicago in February 1960. Don’s Rail Photos: “101 was built by American Car in 1917 as AG&StL 61. In 1926 the car became StL&ARy 61 and in 1930 it became IT 101. On March 9, 1956, it was sold to the Illinois Electric Railway Museum and is now at Union, IL.” This car ran between St. Louis and Alton.

Don’s Rail Photos says, (North Shore Line) “213 was built by Cincinnati in March 1920, #2445, as a merchandise despatch car. In 1940 it was rebuilt as a disc harrow ice cutter. It was retired in 1955 and sold to CHF as their 242. It was donated to Illinois Railway Museum in 1964.” Here, we see the car at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company in February 1960. This was also then the location of the Illinois Electric Railway Museum.

Chicago Aurora & Elgin car 419 is eastbound west of DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park in November 1951. The gas holder, at right, was a local landmark for many years.

This photo appears to have been taken on Clark Street across from Lincoln Park during one of those late 1950s Chicago streetcar fantrips (possibly October 21, 1956). I thought this one was interesting, since the man at left may very well be noted railfan William C. Hoffman, whose films and slides are now part of the Wien-Criss Archive.

I realize this is not the greatest quality picture, but it does appear to show the late Bill Hoffman shooting film using a tripod to steady his camera.

Bill Hoffman and his sister Dorothy at their home at 6622 S. Maplewood Avenue in Chicago on December 26, 1981. Two nicer people, you will never meet. Both are sadly long gone. (Wien-Criss Archive)

More about the Hoffmans from Jeff Wien:

Dorothy and Bill were twins. They were born on May 15, 1910. Bill was 78 when he died (July 5, 1988) and Dorothy was 88 when she died. Dorothy died on May 10, 1999, five days short of her 89th birthday.

Dorothy was a wonderful person. Very generous in her donations to the Illinois Railway Museum in Bill’s memory. She funded the Hoffman Garage and other motor bus related projects. Dorothy donated over $800,000 to IRM, mostly motor bus related.

The Chicago Transit Authority, whose operating area covers most of Cook County, added the words “Metropolitan Transit” to its logo around 1958. This image was made from an original Kodalith originally in the collections of the late Robert Selle. My guess is he obtained it from the CTA back in the late 1950s. A Kodalith uses graphic arts film, and was likely made from the original logo artwork. Graphic arts film renders things in either black or white, and does not include gray tones as would conventional film. This image was not made by taking a picture of a logo on the side of a bus or “L” car. (Wien-Criss Archive)

Don’s Rail Photos says that North Shore Line car 231 “was built by Cincinnati in May 1924, #2720, as a merchandise despatch car. It was rebuilt as a plow in 1949.” That’s the configuration we see it in here. It does not appear to have been saved.

This interesting scene shows North Shore Line car 413 (and train) turning off street running on Greenleaf Avenue in Wilmette on the Shore Line Route, which uit in 1955. The building at right is still standing.

The same location today. We are looking east. North Shore Line cars turned into what is now the parking lot at left, before running north parallel to the Chicago & North Western tracks.

Lehigh Valley Transit 812 is shown running a special at Souderton PA on May 14, 1951. Service on the Liberty Bell interurban ended in September 1951, and unfortunately, this car was not saved.

Baltimore Transit Company “Peter Witt” car 6076 is on Route 8 on Fayette. Don’s Rail Photos adds, “6051 thru 6100 were built by Cincinnati in 1930 and retired in 1955.” I thought of this since the body of a similar 1930s Peter Witt car from Indianapolis was being stored at the ill-fated Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville. Hopefully, it can be saved. (Walter Broschart Photo)

Chicago Aurora & Elgin wood car 301 at the Wheaton Yards on July 8, 1955. Don’s Rail Photos: “301 was built by Niles Car & Mfg Co in 1906. It was modernized in December 1940.” As part of this modernization, the car’s stained glass windows were covered up. Unfortunately, this car was not saved.

Chicago Aurora & Elgin 138 at Laramie Yards on May 17, 1948. Don’s Rail Photos: “138 was built by American Car Co in March 1910, #844, as C&ME 138. It was rebuilt in 1914 and no retired date.” Starting in 1936, the CA&E leased several wood cars from the North Shore Line, including this one. They were returned to the NSL in 1945 and operated there briefly before being purchased by CA&E the following year. These cars were no longer needed after the September 1953 cutback in service to Forest Park and were scrapped. I believe we are looking to the west. (Richard J. Anderson Photo)

This three-car train of Chicago Transit Authority 4000-series “L” cars is signed as a Howard Street Express in June 1949. (L. L. Bonney Photo) Our resident south side expert M. E. adds, “Methinks this photo was taken looking west at the Indiana Av. (at 40th St.) station.Because the train destination sign says Howard Express, the location has to be on the main north/south line. (Plus, this train had to originate on the Jackson Park branch, because Englewood trains at that time ran to Ravenswood.) Also, I don’t recall any other three-track main anywhere else on the north/south line. Also, Indiana Ave. had the overhead walkway to get to and from the Stock Yards L, which terminated to the left of the left-hand platform in the photo.When this photo was taken, the Kenwood L ran as through service from 42nd Place, through Indiana Ave., up to Wilson Ave. Later in 1949, the Kenwood service was cut back to a shuttle ending at Indiana Ave. The inbound station platform was extended over the northernmost track, then mainline north/south service used the middle track heading downtown. A fuller explanation is athttps://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/kenwood.html .Also of interest is that this photo shows a three-car train. Before the advent of new equipment in 1950 there were no “married pairs” of cars. Trains could be as small as a single car, which I recall seeing on the Englewood branch on Sunday mornings.Plus, the three-car train shown in the photo would have had two conductors whose job was to open the passenger entry doors (which were on the sides, at the ends of the cars) using controls situated between the cars. So conductor #1 operated the doors at the rear of car 1 and the front of car 2. Conductor #2 operated the doors at the rear of car 2 and the front of car 3. Side doors at the front of car 1 and the rear of car 3 were not used by passengers. To operate his side doors, a conductor had to stand between the cars. (Yes, in any weather.)And the conductors had to notify the motorman when to proceed. To do this, the conductors had to observe when there was no more boarding or alighting at their doors. They used a bell system to notify the motorman. Two dings meant “proceed”. One ding meant “hold”. The rearmost conductor started with his bell, then the next rearmost, etc., until two dings rang in the motorman’s compartment, his signal to go. The longer the train, the longer it took to leave the station.”

The Chicago Surface Lines decorated several of its streetcars for patriotic purposes during World War II, but here we see 1741 postwar on March 19, 1946, promoting the American Red Cross. I believe this southbound Broadway-State car is operating on Wabash just north of the Chicago River, as the new State Street bridge did not open until 1949.

Bob Selle: “CTA car 115 northbound on Kedzie Street line at 35th and Kedzie, July 23, 1953.” Daniel Joseph adds, “I do not believe this photo is at Kedzie & 35th Street. 35th Street never went to Kedzie and 36th Street had street car tracks.”

Philadelphia Transportation Company 2023 was one of only three “Brilliners” in its fleet. Don’s Rail Photos: ‘2023 was built by Brill Car Co in April 1939, #23763-006. It was scrapped in August 1956.” Presumably PTC did not purchase any additional Brilliners, as it considered them inferior in some ways to PCC cars. Here we see 2023 at an unknown location on July 23, 1950. Jeff Wien adds, “The Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, predecessor to PTC, purchased three Brilliners (2021-2023) in 1939. Thus, PRT/PTC owned more than one Brilliner.Brilliner 2021-2023 3 Brill *1939 **1956 GE 1198G1* Date Acquired **Date RetiredThey were unpopular with operators because they were not PCC cars and there were only 3 of them in the fleet. They looked like PCC cars to the naked eye, which the riding public probably assumed they were.”

I have seen the attached photo in various sites on the internet. The photo shows a Lake Street train which apparently failed to stop at the Market Street terminal at Madison Street and ran through the bumper at the end of the line, derailing the first car which hangs over the edge of the structure. I thought the purpose of the bumper was to prevent a train from running beyond the end of the line, but it apparently didn’t work too well in this case.

The date would appear to be the late 1930s or 1940s (pre-CTA), but I have not found any information or newspaper articles describing what happened. I assume that means there were no deaths or injuries. It could even have been an empty train. Do you have any information about this?

I continue to enjoy your blog — keep it up!

I reached out to Andre Kristopans, who replied:

Not seeing the photo in question makes it harder, but this is what I can say. In wood car days, a wood car could take a pretty bad hit and survive to see service again. CRT was so broke that they were forced to fix anything that wasn’t totally destroyed as they could not afford to replace anything. That said, this is a possible list of candidates it the car in question was totaled:

3055 (trailer) 19291732 1944

Other early retirements are all shown as “fire”, so not likely. However, there were about a dozen cars that CTA retired in 1948 which were apparently in wrecked or burned condition before 10/1/47 but still on the books that were simply written off without any actual scrapping dates recorded. Lake St cars on this list were trailers trailers, so not likely.

As far as Market St service, it was thought that three AM trains circled the loop and then backed into Market St. This is not correct. Three trains left Austin at 656, 709, 727AM making all stops to Hamlin, then Oakley and all stops to Madison/Market and laid up. There might have been additional layups coming off the loop, however. Then they left between 507 and 613PM (6.5 to 12 min headway, so more than three trains) making all stops to Oakley, then Hamlin and all stops to Forest Park.

Sorry, I thought the photo would come across. At any rate, it does look like a trailer, and the number is 3053, although it desn’t appear to be wrecked, really.

The picture certainly does look like the 1940s, though.

Thanks.

Andre replied:

Well, this explains a lot. 3053 lasted until 4/51, so it certainly survived. Also, it was not a control trailer, so the motorman was at the other end of the train, backing in, and overshot his stopping point.

Pittsburgh Mystery Photo

Jeff Wien recently obtained this photo process in September 1965, but without any other information, noting, “The photo was taken after route 55 was converted to motor bus, so it is not route 55 streetcars that we see in the photo.”

Jeff contacted James B. Holland, who writes:

It is at the Flood Control Barrier (one can see track goes single immediately right of PCCs) on the 55 line and within ‘eye+sight’ of E. Pittsburgh, except for the curve in the road!!! It is worked by an extended 65-line: Lincoln Place (loop on 56) to Homestead Loop on 8th. The 65-line loop in Homestead (also shared by former 60-line shuttle to East Liberty) was just west of Rankin Bridge. The 55-line shared track with 65 thru Homestead on 8th between Amity and 60/65 Loop and beyond to Rankin Bridge which 55 crossed to East Pittsburgh. Thus, with demise of 55, the 65 was extended from Homestead to E. Pittsburgh for ‘some time.’ The 60/65 line loop in Homestead was used by the 55A, a rush Hour tripper To/From downtown Pittsburgh.

The Carlson PCC book Coast To Coast lists both 65 and 55 as ending on the same date, 5 September 1965. A note in the table (Pgs168-169) indicates: “[55] Hays to Pittsburgh (including 57) abandoned 04 Jul 1964 balance [worked by extended 65 abandoned] by PAT modernization on [09 Sep] 1965.” Thus It Seems the 65 line was extended for 1 year plus two months. Many are not aware of this. I have pictures distinctly signed 65 also distinctly working the 55.

With Glenwood Car House closed in 1961 and routes operated from South Hills, several years before PAT, and with Glenwood Bridge banned to trolleys, 65 line left South Hills and probably used Forbes and Braddock to Rankin Jct and ‘to extended route’ from there. (Interesting to note: 55 Owl terminal was Rankin Bridge, at least post-rebuild.)

I do not know if the extended 65 used the old dedicated loop in East Pittsburgh which was not quite in “downtown E. Pittsburgh”. The 65 line may have looped in E. Pittsburgh proper on Braddock to Electric, Linden, Beech and Braddock.

In case any of our readers have additional information, Jeff is still trying to find out the name of the steel mill shown in the photo. (Editor’s note: John Suhayda adds, “The Pittsburgh Mystery Photo shows the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, east of Pittsburgh, along the Monongahela River.”)
Richard Wilke writes:

What a wonderful website! Thank you for all the information I was able locate about the CA&E! I am looking for any photo of the last stop at Mannheim & 22nd Street on the Westchester branch. My uncle lived in Wheaton on Electric Avenue. He somehow acquired the station signage from that last stop, and I have yet to confirm that the sign that I now have, as being from that end of line stop! Is there someone in your organization that might be able to confirm its existence with a picture of said sign? It’s a 14″ x 7′, deep blue with white block lettering, reading, MANNHEIM-22nd. Would appreciate any information to find its true history!

I found a picture of that station on Graham Garfield’s excellent web site. It is dated 1951, which was when service ended, and although it is not very sharp, you can see two signs. The photo is credited to Bernard L. Stone:

On the other hand, Mitch Markovitz writes:

I saw the photo of the sign that reads “MANNHEIM 22nd STREET” in the latest Dodger. I don’t think it’s authentic at all. The type is way too contemporary, and doesn’t match anything else the “L” did as far as signs. Including the photos with the two signs at the platform. The blue is way too light as well.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks.

-David Sadowski

Finally, Jack Bejna writes:

Thanks for the kind comments and the forum to share my photographic efforts with the interurban/streetcar community. It’s nice to know that someday when I’m gone my collection will have been shared with the electric railroad enthusiasts that remain.

There are more Detroit United Railway photos to be posted as well as photographs from the Michigan interurbans that vanished long ago so stay tuned to this great blog!

Pre-Order Our New Book Building Chicago’s Subways

There are three subway anniversaries this year in Chicago:60 years since the West Side Subway opened (June 22, 1958)75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943)80 years since subway construction started (December 17, 1938)

To commemorate these anniversaries, we have written a new book, Building Chicago’s Subways.

While the elevated Chicago Loop is justly famous as a symbol of the city, the fascinating history of its subways is less well known. The City of Chicago broke ground on what would become the “Initial System of Subways” during the Great Depression and finished 20 years later. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicago’s soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. Chicago’s first rapid transit subway opened in 1943 after decades of wrangling over routes, financing, and logistics. It grew to encompass the State Street, Dearborn-Milwaukee, and West Side Subways, with the latter modernizing the old Garfield Park “L” into the median of Chicago’s first expressway. Take a trip underground and see how Chicago’s “I Will” spirit overcame challenges and persevered to help with the successful building of the subways that move millions. Building Chicago’s subways was national news and a matter of considerable civic pride–making it a “Second City” no more!

Chapter Titles:
01. The River Tunnels
02. The Freight Tunnels
03. Make No Little Plans
04. The State Street Subway
05. The Dearborn-Milwaukee Subway
06. Displaced
07. Death of an Interurban
08. The Last Street Railway
09. Subways and Superhighways
10. Subways Since 1960

Building Chicago’s Subways will be published on October 1, 2018. Order your copy today, and it will be shipped on or about that date. All copies purchased through The Trolley Dodger will be signed by the author.

The price of $23.99 includes shipping within the United States.

For Shipping to US Addresses:

For Shipping to Canada:

For Shipping Elsewhere:

Redone tile at the Monroe and Dearborn CTA Blue Line subway station, showing how an original sign was incorporated into a newer design, May 25, 2018. (David Sadowski Photo)

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 217th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 428,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

Here’s Eric Bronsky’s 2017 holiday card. Alluding to some Comments that were made about a different picture in our last post (Reader Showcase, 12-11-2017), we are certain that this image of the new Chicago Transit Authority “L” station at Washington and Wabash has been worked over in Photoshop. But such is our desire to see North Shore Line trains running again, that we freely admit we believe it must be true!*

Christmas Eve is here once again, and we’re sharing some holiday joy from our readers. Thanks to everyone who let us use their pictures. Whatever your beliefs, we hope for a joyous holiday season for all.

-David Sadowski

From John F. Bromley:

From Kenneth Gear:

From Alan Wickens:

Alan Wickens produces a monthly magazine about Wellington, New Zealand’s (now former) trolleybus system. This was the November ‘special’ to mark the very last day of trolleybus operation there. Click this link to read it.

From Bob Carroll:

Pittsburgh, 1975.

From Charles Seims:

Jack Bejna writes:

Here’s an early Xmas present for the blog. My favorite CA&E cars are by far the original several orders of woodies, especially before they lost their original window configuration. It’s too bad we didn’t have modern cameras to capture these wooden beauties in all their original configuration. Merry Christmas and a great New Year as well.

And I know I join our readers in wishing the same to you as well, thanks!

CA&E 12 was built by Niles in 1902.

CA&E 14, built by Niles in 1902.

CA&E 24, built by Niles in 1902.

CA&E 26, built by Niles in 1902.

CA&E 30, built by Stephenson in 1902.

CA&E 34, built by Stephenson in 1902.

CA&E 46, built by Stephenson in 1902.

CA&E 48 as new. It was built by Stephenson in 1902.

CA&E 54 was built by Stephenson in 1902.

CA&E 103, a trailer, was built by Stephenson in 1902.

Recent Finds

Here are three Red Border Kodachrome slides we recently acquired, plus one circular:

A train of CTA 4000s prepares to head east at DesPlaines Avenue, west end of the Garfield Park “L”, on May 26, 1956.

A two-car Chicago Aurora & Elgin train loops at DesPlaines Avenue in Forest Park on May 26, 1956, while a CTA Route 17 bus waits in the background. That was the replacement service for the Westchester branch of the “L”, which uit in 1951.

On July 4, 1953, we are looking north from the stairway to the CTA’s “L” station at State and Van Buren. Streetcars are still running on State Street, via tracks laid in concrete about ten years before when the State Street subway was built. The nearby subway entrances are in their original configuration. State did not get those “preying mantis” street lights until 1959.

Unfortunately, one tour that you can’t take via interurban any longer…

Santa Is Coming…

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad, that is, in vintage 1959 recordings prepared for the Railroad Record Club of Hawkins, Wisconsin, but previously unissued, now digitally remastered for your enjoyment on compact disc:

From the introduction to the record:

This is Pete Brett. What you are about to hear is a recording of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad in 1959. Engine number 21, Mikado type, 2-8-2, oil burning.

Regular service in 1959, on the Santa Maria Valley, freight only. My recording depicts a composite of different recordings, of different operations. Our train switches in Santa Maria, some switching operation at the John Inglis Frozen Food Company, just outside Santa Maria, which we’ll hear some sounds of mechanical reefers, along with whistles.

Some on-line recordings, as the train proceeds to Betteravia Junction. There, some of the cars are cut out, the engine backs up to Betteravaia, switches, drops off some cars, picks some up, goes back to Betteravia Junction, picks up the rest of the train; we proceed on to Guadalupe, and our junction with the Southern Pacific. There, some switching operations, as some cars are dropped off, others picked up. Later on, the train returns to Betteravaia Junction. Once again, the train splits in two, part of it going to Betteravia, the switching operation there, the train then proceeding on to Santa Maria.

Santa Maria Valley Railroad, 1959.

The remainder of the CD includes 14 additional steam railroad tracks recorded by William A. Steventon, for use in a presentation he gave, demonstrating various types of sounds involved in basic railroad operations.

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR.com) has a rich and interesting history, and can be credited, at least in large part, with the Santa Maria Valley becoming an economic powerhouse by building up primarily the agricultural and industrial segments of its economy.

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad commenced construction on July 11, 1911 by an English oil syndicate to haul oil and asphalt from Roadamite to Guadalupe. The SMVRR reached Santa Maria on October 7, 1911 and was completed to Roadamite on November 5, 1911. The SMVRR took over switching operations for Union Sugar Plant. The railroad was initially successful but in the 1920s the sugar plant closed and the railroad drifted into bankruptcy in 1925.

Captain G. Allan Hancock purchased the railroad in 1925 in a bankruptcy auction on the steps of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and proceeded to build many industries which complemented the railroad. Captain Hancock built a state of the art, fully-equipped engine house to maintain his locomotives and equipment. He invested heavily in the railroad, installing new ties and new rail, and buying locomotives. Captain Hancock developed agriculture in the Santa Maria Valley, introducing new irrigation methods, and invested heavily in packing sheds, an ice plant, and Rosemary Farms. By the mid 1930s the SMVRR was hauling many carloads of sugar beets to the Union Sugar Plant in Betteravia, and crude oil and vegetables out of the valley. The SMVRR was one of the busiest shortline railroads on the west, hauling over 20,000 carloads per year.

At the start of World War II, the SMVRR purchased the old Pacific Coast (narrow gauge) Railroad right-of-way to the Airbase, now the location of the Santa Maria Airport. The Airbase Branch is actually the oldest railroad right-of-way on the SMVRR system, originally constructed in April 1882. In fact, the Airbase Branch is the only Pacific Coast right-of-way still in operation as a railroad.

Roadamite ceased operations in the late 1940s and the line was abandoned from Sisquoc to Roadamite in 1949. The last major track construction was in 1950 when the Battles Branch was built to service a refinery.

The SMVRR was one of the last railroads on the West Coast to run main line steam locomotives. On February 24, 1962, the last run of steam engine 21, with Captain Hancock at the throttle and Walt Disney in the cab, occurred. The SMVRR had purchased its first diesel-electric locomotives, the GE 70-tonners, in 1948. The GE 70-tonners proved to be excellent work horses for the SMVRR and they eventually displaced the steam locomotives.

Captain Hancock passed away in 1965. Two Hancock family trusts took over the SMVRR: the Marian Mullen Trust, controlled by Hancock’s third wife Marian Hancock; and the Rosemary Trust, the descendants of Rosemary, Hancock’s only daughter. Through the years many of the loose carload merchandise business went to trucking and by the late 1970s the fresh vegetable market was gone. Oil produced in the valley eventually left the rails. In August 1993, Holly Sugar closed down the sugar plant in Betteravia. This resulted in the loss of 90% of the railroad’s remaining traffic. The Hancock Trusts eventually concentrated on their more lucrative real estate holdings and the railroad continued to lose its customer base.

The Rosemary Trust took complete control of the railroad in 1999 and worked to turn the fortunes around for the railroad. An intense marketing campaign brought some new customers aboard. The railroad divested its right-of-way east of Highway 101 in Santa Maria and the main line trackage was reduced to 14 miles.

In October 2006 the SMVRR was purchased by the Coast Belle Rail Corporation from the descendants of the Hancock family, ending more than 80 years of control by the Hancock Family. New ownership embarked on a daunting task of rebuilding the line and rebuilding the customer base. To raise public and customer awareness and to raise much needed capital, the SMVRR hosted special events and dinner excursions.

On November 9, 2006 the SMVRR chartered the private car Silver Lariat for a freight customer appreciation excursion. That night was the first public excursion since 1962. On December 9, 2006 the SMVRR held its first ever public open house, the first of several events to reintroduce the public to the railroad. On the weekend of April 5, 2008 the former SMVRR Railbus No. 9 made a cameo appearance during a Motorcar Operators West excursion.

In September 2008 the SMVRR moved its yard and office facilities out of downtown Santa Maria and relocated at the former sugar plant in Betteravia. The new location offers full transload services with team track, dock track and ramp track as well as many acres of on-ground storage.

In July 2016, the SMVRR Headquarters relocates to its new Osburn Yard.

Today, history continues to be made. The past two years were the busiest since the sugar beet plant closed in 1993. New customers have come on board as well as current customers increasing their carloadings. The SMVRR is now a full-service shortline railroad company, performing contract switching, contract track repairs and inspections, and car repairs.

Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad

The Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad (Friends-SMVRR.org) was formed in 2007 to preserve the history of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad and to educate its members on the current railroad industry. Tours and lectures cover the current railroad business, railroad safety, as well as the history of the railroad.

On May 13, 2017, the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum opened an exhibit entitled, “Two Centuries…One Dream”, the story of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad.

Here are some pictures taken on the occasion of the last steam operation on the Santa Maria Valley on February 24, 1962. I would expect that the “Ward” in one picture was Ward Kimball (1914-2002), one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men”:

A dream that fortunately did not come true:

CHICAGO’S LOOP ELEVATED TRACKS TO GOJanuary 4, 1974 – This is a view looking south of the Elevated tracks of Chicago’s CTA system on Wabash Avenue. This section along with other portions that formed “The Loop” is scheduled to be taken down sometime in the future with the building of a subway that is to take its place.

*Here’s the original message Eric sent out with his card:

40 years ago, who would have imagined that Chicago’s Loop ‘L,’ long reviled as an eyesore and a deterrent to urban revitalization, would one day be viewed as an iconic landmark? The turnaround began soon after the city axed a harebrained scheme to tear down the ‘L’ and replace it with a single subway route under Franklin Street. Property values adjacent to the structure have since risen, and in mild weather you can even dine at a sidewalk café in the shadow of the ‘L’ (Mort’s Deli once offered “‘L’-egant dining under the cars”).

To date, the 120-year-old Loop ‘L’ structure has been restored and all except two of the aging stations have been renovated or replaced. Most recently, Washington/Wabash, a completely new and accessible ‘L’ station with wide platforms beneath a striking glass-and-steel canopy with LED lighting replaced two historic but obsolete stations at Randolph and Madison Streets.

In the spirit of CTA’s annual Holiday Train and Elves’ Workshop Train, and also the “Heritage Fleet,” we digitally enhanced the new Washington/Wabash station with some red-and-green stuff. The North Shore train is grafted from an original photo by William E. Robertson. The elf (someone you know?) is waiting for the train to Santa’s workshop. You might need to enlarge the image to spot some of the other oddities. It’s sort of like a “What’s wrong with this picture” … or should we say, “What’s right with this picture?”

— Eric

Chicago Trolleys

On the Cover: Car 1747 was built between 1885 and 1893 by the Chicago City Railway, which operated lines on the South Side starting in April 1859. This is a single-truck (one set of wheels) open electric car; most likely a cable car, retrofitted with a trolley and traction motor. The man at right is conductor William Stevely Atchison (1861-1921), and this image came from his granddaughter. (Courtesy of Debbie Becker.)

Check out our new book Chicago Trolleys. Signed copies are available through our Online Store.

HOLIDAY SPECIAL! This book makes an excellent gift. For a limited time only, we have reduced the price to just $17.99 plus shipping. That’s $4.00 off the regular price.

Help Support The Trolley Dodger

This is our 203rd post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received over 351,000 page views, for which we are very grateful.

You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store.

As we have said before, “If you buy here, we will be here.”

We thank you for your support.

DONATIONS

In order to continue giving you the kinds of historic railroad images that you have come to expect from The Trolley Dodger, we need your help and support. It costs money to maintain this website, and to do the sort of historic research that is our specialty.

Your financial contributions help make this web site better, and are greatly appreciated.

It is fitting that our 200th Trolley Dodger blog post should appear on Thanksgiving weekend. There is always so much in life to be thankful for.

We are thankful for our relative good health (knock on wood), and thankful for friends and family. Since we began this venture in January 2015, we have made many new friends among our readers.

I am thankful to be able to share these classic images with you.

After wandering far afield recently to such exotic places as Milwaukee and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, we are home for the holidays with an all-new post chock full of Chicago transit pictures.

We wanted to make this one something special. But that is our goal with every post… we want #199 to be as good as #200, and #201 to be as good as this one. We may not always succeed, but it is not for lack of trying.

Enjoy!

-David Sadowski

PS- We threw in a few shots from outside the Chicago area, just because we liked them.

Meet the Author

Incredibly, this building, which served as the terminal for the Logan Square branch of Chicago’s “L” until 1970, is still there, although heavily modified, and now serves as the home of City Lit Books at 2523 N. Kedzie. (Chicago Transit Authority Photo)

FYI, this Saturday at 5 pm (11-25) I will be at City Lit Books (2523 N. Kedzie Blvd., Chicago) to discuss my new book Chicago Trolleys. Additional authors will be there as well. Their books are Cycling in Chicago and The Great Chicago Fire. I hope to see you there.

David, I want to let you know how much I enjoy your postings. I grew up in Chicago during and after World War II and was able to ride a lot of the streetcar and “L” lines as well as those interurbans still in operation through the 50s and 60s.

Your pictures bring back a lot of memories and show me things that I missed during that period of time as well. Please do know how much your work is appreciated and keep it going.

I appreciate that, thanks! I will do my best.

Another of our regular readers writes:

Creative writing has always been your skill, whether it was the CERA blog, the Trolley Dodger blog, as well as several CERA publications. Some of your postings on the Trolley Dodger blog are mini stories in themselves. Writing seems to come easily to you and you do it well. Such has never been the case for me. Although I have done some writing, maintaining a blog like you do would be boring to me.

I was extremely impressed with your postings on the Fairmount Trolley, the CA&E 400 series Pullmans, and Andre Kristopan’s analysis of the end of the Red streetcars (see our post The Fairmount Park Trolley, November 7, 2017).

Thanks… I think that everyone has a unique contribution to make in life, and we all need to find that “niche” for ourselves. I seem to have found mine with this type of work. No doubt there are other things you excel at that would leave me clueless.

While some might think working on a blog such as this would be a burden, I consider it a privilege and a responsibility. Like many other things in life, you get back out of it what you put in. I hear from so many people who are grateful to see our posts. Like The Beatles famously sang, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

It’s anything but boring to me, because in the process of researching these articles, I always learn so much. And when I do get things wrong, which does happen, our readers are quick to point that out, and I learn from that too. So, we all learn together and I feel that our readers are an integral part of what goes on here. So again, I am thankful to you.

If you challenge yourself to “think outside the box,” you can achieve more in life than you ever dreamed possible. There is so much to learn in life that I don’t see how it would ever be possible to be bored. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to take it all in.

In July 1965, a two-car train of flat-door CTA 6000s is on the ground-level portion of the Ravenswood route, todays’ Brown Line. (Roger Puta Photo)

CSL Small Pullman 891 is on north Lincoln Avenue, running on Through route 3 (Lincoln-Indiana). Cliff Burnstein adds, “The CSL small Pullman 891 is on the northbound track at the end of the line on Lincoln at Peterson near Kedzie. . The poles have been reversed and 891 will shortly cross over to the southbound track. The north suburban gas tower is seen in the distance to the right.”

CTA “Turtleback” 1702 is at Division and California.

CSL 584, a Milwaukee Avenue car, is at Madison and Canal, in front of the Chicago Daily News building.

CTA 6152 at Waveland and Halsted, north end of the Halsted car line in April 1952.

CTA 1801 at Kedzie and 67th Streets on March 28, 1948.

CTA 407, signed for the Museum Loop, is on Roosevelt Road in August 1949.

CTA535 on Milwaukee at Paulina in April 1951 (this is the date that I received with this negative, however it must be wrong). Milwaukee was converted to buses on May 11, 1952. George Trapp: “The photo at Milwaukee and Paulina looks to me to be earlier than 1951, auto at far right looks like it dates to late 1920’s early 1930’s and no post war autos are in sight so I guess the photo is from the late 1930’s early 1940’s.”

CTA 363 at the Pennsylvania Railroad viaduct at Ashland and Arbor in March 1951. Andre Kristopans notes, “363 Ashland north of Fulton – bridge has three railroads over it, closer behind car is PRR with Milwaukee Road also using the same tracks, beyond is C&NW. Note that street under bridge is much narrower than rest of street. Ashland was widened relatively late, and the bridges were never widened out to this day.”

CTA 415 at Cermak and Kenton. The date given is August 2, 1949, but that must be wrong, since there is a Chicago & West Towns streetcar at left and the 415 still has a CSL logo. So perhaps 1947 would be more like it as the West Towns streetcars quit in April 1948.

CTA Sedan 3358, still sporting a CSL logo, is at Cottage Grove and 115th, south end of the Cottage Grove line, in May 1948.

CTA 6168, signed for Route 38, is on the Wabash Avenue bridge in October 1951.

CTA Pullman 585 is signed for Halsted and Waveland in February 1954, which suggests it is running on Route 8 – Halsted, which was bussed three months later. Andre Kristopans: “585 is on Emerald south of 79th.”

CTA 6172 is at Lawrence and Austin on February 26, 1950, running on Route 81.